The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

The crew of the Wayfarer on a year long journey out to the edge of Galactic Commons space to punch a wormhole next to a tentative new addition to the GC. Its a interplanetary road trip with a diverse, multi-species crew where nothing much happens as the stars slide past, so instead we focus on the emotional interactions between the crew.

It reads like episodes of Star Trek where space is merely the colourful backdrop to larger metaphorical examinations of the human condition exploring ideas of race, sexuality, being and community. All of this is filtered through a YA lens where the emotional beats are dialed up to 11.

Chambers has a firm grasp of each of the characters unique voices and plots their interactions well. Everyone onboard the Wayfarer is heart on their sleeve earnest, and gosh, darned nice. Scrubbed clean of any sort of grit and lacking any real gravitas they are a big, happy family bouncing around their patchwork ship. And it's lovely really. I just found that I had nothing invested in the story, nothing in the lead-up informs the eventual climax and I'm left understanding the crew is a tight knit family. Warm fuzzies all around.